The complaint, filed with the Rockford Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, states the chief improperly interjected himself into a welfare check in progress.

Officers were dispatched Oct. 30 to the home of NAACP Rockford Branch President Lloyd Johnston after his ex-wife, living in New York, reported a possible fight she heard over the phone involving their adult son, who lives with Johnston, before the line went dead.

The fight report turned out to be false, but police officers couldn’t know that when they first responded to the scene, Police Union President Terry Peterson said last fall. He said they were obligated to thoroughly investigate the “domestic-related” report.

Johnston said the officers were overly aggressive and hostile, wanting to come inside before explaining why they were there. He declined to allow them inside without a warrant.

But officers were insistent and told him they would come in the house to check on his son “one way or other” even if that meant they “had to kick the door in,” Officer D’Evyron Boone wrote in his report.

Johnston called Epperson and then put him on speaker phone.

“The chief inappropriately advised a citizen over the phone to not cooperate with his officers without even knowing the basic facts and circumstances involved in the call. His conduct placed the citizens and officers in a potential dangerous situation,” Peterson said in a news release.

“Various aspects of this incident obviously concern our officers. It not only shows that the chief lacks understanding of the fundamentals of effective police work, but more importantly demonstrates his overall inability to effectively lead this department.”

Chief Epperson could not be reached today for comment.

The union is asking the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners to conduct an independent investigation of the matter.

Last fall, union representatives called a press conference to request investigation of the incident, but the request was denied.

Mayor Larry Morrissey said the situation at Johnston’s house was resolved successfully: police conducted their welfare check and it was done without anyone getting hurt.

“That is textbook for what you do in a situation like that,” Morrissey said in a November interview. “You pause, you send a supervisor. And guess what? It got resolved.”